we had to [ bleep ] secretary panetta. we joked about this as an issue during our interview with secretary panetta. we didn't have to bleep him then, but we did have to bleep him yesterday. anyway, just ask yourself, though, confirmation hearings, they may not be decisive, but they do matter. ask yourself while john brennan and jack lew are frankly having an easier confirmation process. no -- wasn't exactly going through scot-free, but they had good hearings. they aced the hearing part of the confirmation. hagel was a borderline disaster on style for his confirmation hearing and he certainly struggled on substance. and that's where we are. and by the way, if hagel does get through, he's going to go in as a very, very weak secretary of defense, that has to be wearing on the mind of the folks that sit in the west wing. jack reed is the president on line one. anyway, president obama's outside game is clear. he's on the road, pushing a raft of politically popular initiatives, daring republicans to essentially fall into a polit